I`ve just read on the message board of the official Steelers site that Holmes and Clark will be missing due to the sickle cell traits that both of them have.
The high altitude and thin air apparantly.
I`ve tried to hunt around on the web including SF but can`t find anything to confirm this is the case.
http://mboard.steelers.com/fanzone/mboard/news/83158

Stang909

07-28-2009, 02:00 PM

Well I wouldn't doubt it because that is where Ryan Clark got sick for a couple weeks in 07.

I know Clark is out for that game; he almost died last time he played in Denver. Holmes I hadn't heard anything about. We ought to be fine, since Denver sucks at offense and defense and come to think of it, basically football in general.

Virginia Steeler

07-28-2009, 03:47 PM

Again....Santonio Holmes does not have SCA ...

move along now, nothing to see here.

stillers4me

07-28-2009, 06:15 PM

ummmmmm..........I don't have the link but not long ago, Santonio admitted to having the same symptoms as a child that his son has and that he now thinks he shares the same diagnosis. I doubt they'll take a chance with him.

fansince'76

07-28-2009, 06:33 PM

Don't know about Holmes and I'm doubtful about that one, but considering that Clark came damn close to dying as a result of complications due to playing in our last game in Denver, err on the side of caution and give him that week off. Clark's well being and long-term health is paramount and takes priority here.

lamberts-lost-tooth

07-28-2009, 06:47 PM

Just to clarify...Holmes only carries the trait.

As a youngster, Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes experienced pain that racked his body similar to what his seven-year-old son endures today.

As a child, Holmes didn't know the source of that pain — but he knows now.

His son has sickle-cell disease.

"I went through the same thing as a kid — same pain in my stomach all the time, arms just start hurting for no reason," Holmes said following a recent workout at Disney's Wide World of Sports. "I never knew what it was until I just found out in May that I have sickle cell — 25 years. Now, I know why he's going through all those things I did."

Holmes was born with the sickle-cell trait, a genetically inherited blood disease. His son, Santonio III, has sickle-cell disease, which appears in one out of every 5,000 people,